The Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center

Sick turtles rarely come in with their medical histories in-flipper. Some cases, like a boat impact or predatory injury are obvious, and we have standard treatment protocols that are immediately put into place. Fishing gear entanglements and snagged, visible hooks also have standard treatments. It’s the stuff we don’t know about that keeps us tossing and turning at night.

Experience has taught us that, if a turtle comes in with a hook in its mouth there’s a good chance that it isn’t the first time there was opportunistic feeding off the old fishing pole.

But, Johnson scared us. This guy was admitted four months ago with shark bites to his flippers. That’s what we’ve been treating him for, and he’s made a remarkable recovery. He’s always been a good eater (“give it to Johnson, he eats anything”) so we never suspected any additional health issues. But last week we just about passed out when we saw what he passed out!

A large hook had been making its way through his body, thankfully without incident. We never knew it was there, and if it had snagged and penetrated the elimination tract it would have been a very different outcome for this turtle.

Our goal for our new facility is to radiograph every turtle that comes through our doors. It will be standard protocol to find out for sure whether there are any surprises underneath their carapace. One of our volunteers has been trained to operate a digital radiograph, and other professionals have volunteered their time to review and report on the findings. We’re praying that, because we’re building a special room for this equipment “it will come.” We know that many individuals and businesses prefer that their donation be for a specific purpose. If you’re of this mind now is your chance to know exactly how your money will be working for our turtles. If you’re a medical professional upgrading your digital equipment we promise to give your current machine a very good home!

ennie	boater	carter II	bear II	pier 2	virginia	oceans11	goa	shrek	remembrance
lightning	oakie2	johnsonII	seymour	chase	ranger	freeman	little sunny	peanut	lefty

THE STRANDING	Found at the Johnson-Seymour recreational beach with wounds consistent with a shark bite.
THE TREATMENT	Daily wound care. The wounds are flushed and treated , then covered with triple antibiotic cream and ointment. Antibiotics are adminsitered by injection
NOV 2010	Sick turtles rarely come in with their medical histories in-flipper. Some cases, like a boat impact or predatory injury are obvious, and we have standard treatment protocols that are immediately put into place. Fishing gear entanglements and snagged, visible hooks also have standard treatments. It’s the stuff we don’t know about that keeps us tossing and turning at night. Experience has taught us that, if a turtle comes in with a hook in its mouth there’s a good chance that it isn’t the first time there was opportunistic feeding off the old fishing pole. But, Johnson scared us. This guy was admitted four months ago with shark bites to his flippers. That’s what we’ve been treating him for, and he’s made a remarkable recovery. He’s always been a good eater (“give it to Johnson, he eats anything”) so we never suspected any additional health issues. But last week we just about passed out when we saw what he passed out! A large hook had been making its way through his body, thankfully without incident. We never knew it was there, and if it had snagged and penetrated the elimination tract it would have been a very different outcome for this turtle. Our goal for our new facility is to radiograph every turtle that comes through our doors. It will be standard protocol to find out for sure whether there are any surprises underneath their carapace. One of our volunteers has been trained to operate a digital radiograph, and other professionals have volunteered their time to review and report on the findings. We’re praying that, because we’re building a special room for this equipment “it will come.” We know that many individuals and businesses prefer that their donation be for a specific purpose. If you’re of this mind now is your chance to know exactly how your money will be working for our turtles. If you’re a medical professional upgrading your digital equipment we promise to give your current machine a very good home!
JAN 2011	Johnson's turn for a full scrub down andt and tank cleaning.
	Released June 1, 2011